Modern commercial aircraft make extensive use of systems to plan and execute flights, control the aircraft, and manage a number of other aircraft operations. For example, such systems may include a flight management system (FMS) that generates flight plans with lateral segments and vertical segments to a destination. The flight plans may include details about the appropriate speeds, altitudes, and positions during ascent, cruising, and descent modes of a flight. As an example, the FMS may chart a vertical descent segment at a target speed. If conditions change or if the descent segment is not flown as expected, the aircraft may be above or below the target speed. In such a scenario, the pilot will adjust the thrust or engage a speed brake in an attempt to meet the target speed. Pilots generally make these adjustments based on experience or intuition. Given the complex mechanisms of flight, at times, the pilot may overcompensate or undercompensate an attempt to hit the target speed, particularly with respect to the application of the speed brake. If the pilot applies too much speed brake and the aircraft speed falls beneath the target speed, the pilot must then engage the thrust in an attempt to again meet the target speed, and so on, until the aircraft finally reaches the target speed. This procedure for meeting target speeds may not provide the most efficient flight operation.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved systems and methods for controlling the speed of an aircraft, particularly during descent. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.